


Way Back To You

by hydroxide (incantations)



Category: EXO (Band)
Genre: Eventual Smut, M/M, Romance, kilig asf, me writing fic after 2 years lol, soul searching, travel AU, wanderlust au
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-03
Updated: 2020-05-03
Packaged: 2021-03-02 05:40:02
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,978
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23989753
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/incantations/pseuds/hydroxide
Summary: Sehun's a lost soul, on a journey to find himself in between flights to different countries. He finds a familiar place everywhere he goes and wonders if this is a set up or if this pure coincidence. From drinking wine in a janky Airbnb in France, to salsa dancing in the heat of Spain, to kissing under the stars in Norway, Sehun realizes that a maybe if two people were meant to be together, there are no coincidences, only the inevitable.
Relationships: Lu Han/Oh Sehun
Comments: 2
Kudos: 4





	Way Back To You

**_SEOUL, OCTOBER 2014_ **

_The loud echoes of his footsteps, shook him to the core. Sehun slightly trembled as he passed the white walls that lead to rooms with filled name plates. The smell of alcohol was once a comfort to him, but the recent events of life caused him to detest it to the bone. The discomfort of being at the hospital, knowing what awaits him at the end of the hallway, pierced his heart more than any physical pain can give to him. He knew the end was near._

_Walking into an all familiar room, he gazed at the faces of all his loved ones stricken with grief. They surrounded the bed, everyone, tears starting to fall from the corners of their eyes. Sehun’s heart clenched at the sight. Simultaneously, they turned their heads to the sound of the door sliding. Sehun’s eyes fall onto his mother first. Her short black hair made neatly into a bun. She must have heard Sehun coming in, as her eyes slightly shifted toward the door._

_Sehun rushed over to her side, gripping her hand with every ounce of love he can muster through a touch. “Follow your heart. I love you. Always.” She gave a soft smile, took one last deep breath and closed her eyes._

_The electrocardiogram flat lined._

  
  
  
  
  
  


**PRESENT DAY**

Sehun thumbs the edge of the plane ticket in his hands. Five years have passed since his father died. Realistically, it’s been five years since Sehun died inside. Losing his biggest inspiration at the blossoming age of twenty, he learned to navigate life without him, but never forgetting him. 

Everything that Sehun did, from graduating from college with a degree in business, to getting a good job at a good company, to….that’s all. Sehun honored him with every milestone, with every accomplishment. Time didn’t pause for Sehun, instead it just slowed down, years merged into months, weeks melted into days. He’s been on autopilot since then. 

He needed a change of pace. Friends have been telling him that he needs to stop and smell the flowers. He knows that he lives the same repetitive routine day by day. He channels his focus into work, even if he does hate it. He doesn’t want to think about things, because thinking means emotions, and Sehun doesn’t need complicated emotions.

His good friend Chanyeol literally pulled him out of his daze by telling him he needs a change of scenery. Chanyeol said that he was afraid that Seun would overwork himself to death, with all the time that he’s dedicating to work. He barely has time to hang out with his friends, or even just have a small phone call with them. 

It’s probably the idea that this is the fifth year, and how everything just happened so quickly, and how time really just has been passing him by. 

So here he was, at the boarding gates of Incheon International Airport, going on a trip by himself for the first time since he was born. His heart is heavy from anticipation and uncertainty, or maybe that’s just indigestion from the meal that his mum fed him earlier on in the day. Sehun shakes off his nerves, calming himself down. 

_Now Boarding For Flight Korean Air Flight KE901 to Paris, France_

The flight attendant’s voice rings through the air. Sehun takes one last deep breath before stepping forward to hand his plane ticket. 

This was it. This was the trip of his lifetime that’s supposed to bring him back to his senses.

Sehun’s been on many flights before. He’s traveled to the United States, he’s been to California and New York. Hell, he travels quite frequently with his good friend Junmyeon. Yet even if he’s a seasoned traveler, there’s that little bubbling of excitement at the pit of his stomach. 

He uses traveling as a means to escape. He always thought he was ten steps ahead of the hands that were trying to take him back into a dark place. But what Sehun never realized that it wasn’t that he was ten steps ahead, it was that the dark place was a shadow that followed him everywhere. 

He used traveling as a means to distract himself from the trauma that hurt him in the past. He never really knew how to perfectly cope with his emotions, or the anger and resentment that laid deep within his heart. If those challenges took him ten steps back, this is Sehun taking the first step forward to facing his demons. 

It’s going to take a while, but Sehun understands that healing isn’t linear, nor is it supposed to happen over night. The succession of little battles is more important that defeating everything all at once. A gradual process. 

“34 B… 34 B... “ Sehun murmurs to himself while looking up at the overhead bins for his seat. There’s something about the musty smell of an airplane that he just can’t bring himself to get used to. “Ah!” Sehun sighs in relief when he finds it. Thankfully no one was there yet. He got the middle seat. It sucked but there was nothing he could do about it. 

He put his stuff in the overhead compartment and sat down. If there was something he learned from traveling, it was to clean his area. Thank god for disinfectant wipes. He didn’t care of he got weird looks from people around him. He didn’t want to be getting weird diseases while on the trip. 

As he continued to clean the little stowaway tray with much gusto, he felt a tap on his shoulder. His eyes fell upon a dark brown haired man with the brightest smile he’s ever seen. “Excuse me, can I pass through? I’m in seat C.” 

He was cute. Sehun couldn’t deny that. He didn’t want to seem like a creep so he nodded his head and put the tray away to let the stranger pass by. 

Sehun isn’t going to lie, it was awkward for just the two of them to be there. He wanted to strike up a conversation with this guy. Anything! “Uh, would you like a disinfectant wipe for your tray?” Sehun offered the pack of Lysol wipes to the guy beside him. 

“Oh! Yeah thank you. I would really appreciate that.” The stranger took the pack of wipes from Sehun, and started to clean his tray. 

“It’s no problem.” Sehun tried to not watch the stranger clean his own table, so he sat back down in his seat, anticipating the start of the flight. More and more people started to come in and eventually the seat beside Sehun was filled with an old man who looked a little too angry to want to talk to anybody. Sehun didn’t want to engage with a person who was giving out an aura like that so he minded his business. 

Sehun took a peek outside the window, seeing the sun setting in the distance. It takes twelve hours and ten minutes from ICN to Paris. He sinks deep into his seat trying to take his mind off of everything. 

From the side of him he can see the cute stranger looking a little nervous. “Flight jitters?” Sehun comments. The stranger beside him jumped a little from the sudden conversation. He looks at Sehun a little embarrassed. With a small smile on his lips, he scratches the back of his neck. “I’m not really good with flying. I’m actually terrified with heights.” 

Sehun gasped. “Hey if you want my seat I’m totally fine with that. I don’t want you to be on the side if you feel scared.” The stranger was taken aback by Sehun’s kind gesture. 

“Are you sure?” He asks dumbfounded. 

Sehun shrugs, “Yeah it’s totally not a big deal. I don’t want you to be uncomfortable. I’m used to flying so it doesn’t matter to me. We should change now before we take off.“

The stranger’s face brightens up, his eyes disappear into half moons as he smiles. “Thank you so much. I really do appreciate that lot. “ 

Sehun makes sure to tell the person beside him that he’s going to be switching with the guy at the window. The stranger nods his head and stands up for them to move. The stranger by the window seat stands up, and Sehun follows. One thing leads to another. While the stranger is trying to move out to the aisle he trips on his own two feet and ends up with his face buried into Sehun’s chest, and his arms around his waist. 

Sehun chuckles a little bit as he helps him stand up by placing his own hands on the strangers waist to stabilize himself. A few chuckles erupt around their area and the stranger’s face blooms a bright red color. “Sorry I’m a little clumsy. “ 

“It happens to the best of us.” Sehun comments, while sliding back into the seats, now he’s close to the window with the stranger beside him. 

Once they’re seated the fasten seatbelt sign turns on and the airplane starts to move back. 

“My name is Lu Han.” The stranger turns to Sehun, proffering his hand. “Thank you for doing this.” 

“Oh Sehun.” Sehun firmly took the smaller hand into his own. “It’s really no problem. Don’t worry about it.” 

“So Paris…” Lu Han mentions, trying to change the conversation, his arm leaning on the arm rest between him and Sehun. Sehun’s gonna follow this guy’s flow, he probably wants to keep his mind off of the flight. 

Who knows what can happen in twelve hours. 

Sehun nods his head. “Yeah, a friend got this plane ticket for me back in April as a birthday gift. I couldn’t really get a vacation until now.” 

Luhan tilts his head with a smirk on his lips. “No way is your birthday in April too? My birthday is on April 20. How about you?”

Sehun couldn’t help but laugh. “My birthday is on April 12.” 

Luhan nodded his head resting his chin on his fist, “You’re an Aries. Okay, but what year?”

“1994.” Sehun replied

“So you’re 25. I’m born in 1990, so that makes me 25 also.” Luhan said in a teasing voice. 

Sehun looks at him in disbelief. “If you said you’re 25 I would have believed you. You do not look like you’re twenty- ni--”

Luhan hushed him before he could even finish. “Everyone doesn’t need to know my age, Sehun!” 

“I’ll keep it as my secret then, as long as you share your secret to being forever youthful.” Luhan laughs and someone shushes him. Luhan flinches and furrows his eyebrows. Sehun smiles at his reaction. 

In a whispered tone, Luhan leaned in toward Sehun’s ear. “Being stress free. It’s not good to carry heavy burdens on your heart and your body.” 

_Ladies and Gentlemen, in Seoul the ground temperature is currently_ _25°C outside. We will be arriving in approximately 12 hours and 15 minutes in Paris, France on June 5, 2019. The ground temperature of Paris is 21°C. Dinner will be served, after we have stabilized._ _We will be taking off shortly. Please fasten your seatbelts. Thank you for flying with Korean Air._

“I think that’s our sign to be quiet.” Luhan whispered over to Sehun. 

It was probably really fucking ballsy of Sehun, but he offered his hand over to Luhan. “To ease with the butterflies.” Luhan looked at him with a grateful smile, as he took Sehun’s hand. He squeezed it a little bit. Sehun doesn’t believe in love at first sight, but there was something about Luhan that made him feel like his hand really belonged in his. 

As the engine roared and the plane took off, Luhan’s hand never left his, and his grip tightened until they were fully up in the air, thirty-five thousand feet up in the air. 

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading this fic! im going to continuously write it bc its been a while since i've written hehe


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